US11146684B2 - Return call routing system - Google Patents
Return call routing system Download PDFInfo
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- US11146684B2 US11146684B2 US16/825,330 US202016825330A US11146684B2 US 11146684 B2 US11146684 B2 US 11146684B2 US 202016825330 A US202016825330 A US 202016825330A US 11146684 B2 US11146684 B2 US 11146684B2
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- call
- outbound
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
- H04M3/5232—Call distribution algorithms
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
- H04M3/5231—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with call back arrangements
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42195—Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
- H04M2201/14—Delay circuits; Timers
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
- H04M3/42034—Calling party identification service
- H04M3/42059—Making use of the calling party identifier
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
- H04M3/42085—Called party identification service
- H04M3/42102—Making use of the called party identifier
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/5158—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing in combination with automated outdialling systems
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to telecommunications and, more particularly, to a system and method for expediting a call back directly to an agent who placed an initial call to a contact.
- a conventional call center is a central place where customer and other telephone calls are handled by an organization, usually with computer automation.
- a call center has the ability to handle a volume of calls at the same time, to screen calls and forward incoming calls to an agent.
- Call centers are employed by organizations that use the telephone to sell or service products or services, such as, mail order businesses, telemarketing companies, product help desks, etc.
- ACD automatic call distributor
- Call center agents are often assigned a list of potential contacts and receive remuneration premised upon transactions associated with the assigned potential contacts. Often, the agent's call is not answered, e.g. the contact is not at the telephone or the contact's line is in use. Voice mail messages left by the agent are often skipped, however the agent's caller information, e.g., call center phone number and/or company name will reside in the contact's telephone caller ID and/or memory. There exists an incentive for agents who initiated a call to receive the return call from the contact, rather than to have the call routed by an ACD to the next available agent in a queue.
- outbound call center identification i.e., the call center phone number and/or company name, which may be the same identification employed by several agents, appears on the contact's telephone caller ID and memory.
- the outbound call is assigned a tag identifying the contact's phone number as associated with the agent's phone extension or agent station.
- the routing system recognizes the contact's return call phone number as being tagged and bypasses the normal call flow at the call center; the return call is routed directly to the assigned agent's station.
- a time window for the return call may be set beyond which the return call is directed to the next available agent through an ACD, switchboard, etc.
- the system of the present invention is equally applicable to small businesses and organizations having extension telephones and the term “call center” should be interpreted to include telephone systems with extension telephone units.
- agent includes any person who uses a telephone system to make telephone calls as a participant in an organized activity wherein more than one person is making telephone calls; the term “agent station” includes any telephone extension which may comprise a desk telephone, a computer soft phone or a mobile phone.
- an aspect of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described which is not subject to the aforementioned disadvantages of the antecedents of the invention.
- a feature of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described which simplifies routing of a return call.
- a consideration of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described which assures that the return call will be directed to an agent who initiated an unanswered call.
- a further aspect of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described wherein an incoming telephone number of a return call to a call center number registered in a telephone memory is tagged to identify the calling agent for routing the return call directly to the calling agent.
- Another feature of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described which assures that an agent at a call center will receive appropriate incentives when a return call is placed to the call center in response to an unanswered call placed by the agent.
- Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a return call routing system of the general character described which routes return calls directly to a calling agent if the return call is placed within a time window of the agent's initial call.
- FIG. 1 is a schematized representation of a typical call center configuration wherein a call and a return call is may be processed in accordance with the invention
- FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a routine for implementing an outbound call from an agent to an assigned contact
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a routine for directing a return call from an assigned contact to the calling agent.
- FIG. 4 is a continuation of the flow diagram depicted in FIG. 3 .
- the reference numeral 10 denotes generally a call center in accordance with the invention. Many call centers use specialized technology rather than old-fashioned software for handling calling needs and customer information.
- the call center 10 employs a plurality of agents, each operating from an agent station 12 , 14 , 16 , 18 .
- Each agent station may be equipped with agent communication devices, such as, personal desktops 20 for management of operations, data storage and customer references. Agent communication devices may also include telephone receivers 22 and headsets 24 incorporating a listening device and a microphone.
- the call center 10 includes a system processor 26 for overall operation and data handling and may interconnect with the cloud 28 for data processing and storage.
- An incoming call flow manager 30 e.g., auto attendant, ACD, calling group, direct station calling, call forwarding, find me/follow me, etc., is also provided.
- Suitable call center software such as, FreeSWITCH, FreePBX, Asterisk, Avaya Aurora and any other IP based telephony solutions may be employed with routines in accordance with the present invention.
- an agent at each of the agent stations, 12 , 14 , 16 , 18 , etc. is assigned a list of prospective contact names and corresponding telephone numbers which will reside in each agent's desktop 20 .
- the telephone number of each assigned contact is encoded with a tag in the system processor memory and a tag is assigned to each agent station.
- an outbound call placed through the agent station 12 is illustrated in a block 32 .
- An inquiry is made as to whether the outbound number is tagged, as illustrated in a block 34 .
- the call is forwarded directly to the contact's telephone.
- the routine proceeds to an inquiry block 36 to determine whether the agent station is correspondingly tagged. In the event the agent station is tagged, the outbound number is marked to indicate that the agent station is placing the call, as indicated in a block 38 .
- the routine may then proceed to set a wait time duration for the contact to place a return call, as shown in a block 40 .
- the call is then directed to the prospective contact's telephone unit 42 , which is illustrated in FIG. 1 , with the contact center telephone number appearing in a caller ID 44 and in the memory of the telephone unit 42 .
- the prospective contact either answers the telephone or misses the call, as depicted in a block 46 .
- a routine for processing an incoming call 48 at the call center 10 is depicted in FIG. 3 .
- An inquiry is initially made as to whether the incoming calling number has been tagged, as illustrated in a block 50 . If the number is not tagged, the call is routed to a default destination, i.e., the incoming call flow manager 30 , e.g. an ACD, as illustrated in a block 52 .
- the incoming call flow manager 30 e.g. an ACD
- the routine proceeds to determine whether the wait time between placement of the outbound call and receipt of the return call has expired, as shown in inquiry block 54 .
- the call is routed to the default destination, i.e., the incoming call flow manager 30 , illustrated in a block 52 .
- the return call is routed directly to the agent station which initiated the call, as indicated in a block 56 .
- An inquiry is then made as to whether the agent is available to answer the return call, as indicated in a query box 58 . If the agent is able to answer the return call, the routine proceeds to connect the return call with the agent, as indicated in a block 60 .
- the routine proceeds to an inquiry block 62 , wherein the contact .i.e., return caller, is asked whether he/she wishes to wait for the agent, receive a call back from the anent or wishes to speak with the next available agent, as indicated in a block 62 .
- the contact .i.e., return caller
- the routine proceeds to block 58 . If the contact wishes to receive a call back from the agent, the routine proceeds to block 32 , as depicted in block 64 , whereas if the contact is willing to talk with the next available agent, the routine proceeds to the call flow manager 30 as indicated in a block 66 .
- a dial plan could be employed at the contact center such that randomized outbound calling numbers could be selected, which, for example, may make the call to appear to be originating locally.
- a plurality of elements may be shown as illustrative of a particular element, and a single element may be shown as illustrative of a plurality of a particular elements. Showing a plurality of a particular element is not intended to imply that a system or method implemented in accordance with the invention must comprise more than one of that element or step, nor is it intended by illustrating a single element that the invention is limited to embodiments having only a single one of that respective element. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the numbers of a particular element shown in a drawing can, in at least some instances, be selected to accommodate the particular user needs.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Marketing (AREA)
- Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims (20)
Priority Applications (1)
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US16/825,330 US11146684B2 (en) | 2019-03-20 | 2020-03-20 | Return call routing system |
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US201962821308P | 2019-03-20 | 2019-03-20 | |
US16/825,330 US11146684B2 (en) | 2019-03-20 | 2020-03-20 | Return call routing system |
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US20200304642A1 US20200304642A1 (en) | 2020-09-24 |
US11146684B2 true US11146684B2 (en) | 2021-10-12 |
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Citations (25)
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US5943397A (en) | 1993-12-29 | 1999-08-24 | At&T | Network assisted callback system |
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US20050069121A1 (en) | 2003-09-29 | 2005-03-31 | Faruque Mohammad A. | Routing telephone calls |
US6879683B1 (en) | 2001-06-28 | 2005-04-12 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corp. | System and method for providing a call back option for callers to a call center |
US20050141694A1 (en) * | 2003-12-26 | 2005-06-30 | Alcatel | Real-time communications call center server |
US20060015390A1 (en) * | 2000-10-26 | 2006-01-19 | Vikas Rijsinghani | System and method for identifying and approaching browsers most likely to transact business based upon real-time data mining |
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US20070166238A1 (en) * | 2003-11-29 | 2007-07-19 | Passion For Life Healthcare Limited | Composition and delivery system |
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US20200304642A1 (en) | 2020-09-24 |
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